UPPER LAKE — Triple-digit heat had absolutely no effect on the Fort Bragg Timberwolves during their Saturday excursion to the inland oven that was Upper Lake High School.
In fact, the Timberwolves came better prepared to combat the mercury, which shot up to about 106 degrees, than the hometown Cougars, who had even less of an effect on Fort Bragg in a 66-0 blowout that ended with a running clock in the second half.
“Our goal was to come over and play well,” Fort Bragg coach Jack Moyer said of the North Central League I interlock football game that was all Timberwolves from opening kickoff to final second. “We tried not to let the heat get to us.”
Fort Bragg set up two shade tents flanked by a large swamp cooler that kept the Timberwolves plenty cool off the field. Fort Bragg”s players also had access to a large tub filled with bags full of ice and more than enough water to ward off any hint of dehydration.
“We have played in heat before,” said Moyer, who has more than 30 years of service as Fort Bragg”s head coach, including a handful of hot Saturday games in Upper Lake.
Moyer also had an interesting take on the theoretical heat advantage/disadvantage. “We get more conditioning done in cool weather (on the Mendocino County coast), so I don”t think the heat is that much of a factor,” Moyer said.
Who could argue with that after what the Timberwolves did on Saturday? Though Upper Lake wasn”t at full strength, neither was a Fort Bragg team that has now scored 183 points in its first three games.
Of Fort Bragg”s eight possessions on offense through the first three quarters, the Timberwolves (3-0) kicked a 39-yard field goal on their first and scored touchdowns on the next seven.
“They”re real competitive and they like to play football,” Moyer said of his players. “It”s a lively bunch of kids.”
Upper Lake (1-2), which lost 62-0 to Middletown a week ago, didn”t make much noise on its sideline from the start and even less on the field as the game quickly progressed into a rout.
“I was expecting Fort Bragg to come out like we did ? flat,” Upper Lake coach Airic Guerrero said. “We don”t have a lot on our roster to begin with and when (quarterback Mike) Cox went down, we were shifting everyone around.”
Cox suffered a blow to the ribs late in the first quarter and went to the bench. He returned midway through the second quarter and finished out the game.
Upper Lake also employed an interesting strategy early in the game, going with a no-huddle-type offense, but the Cougars appeared to be in no hurry to snap the ball once they got to the line of scrimmage. Upper Lake was called for one delay of game and avoided a second by calling a timeout.
“The plan was to get them (Timberwolves) to the line and have them sit there for a second (in the heat), get their linemen in a four-point stance and try to turn them out,” Guerrero said. “We were trying to do anything we could to tire them out,” he added.
“It didn”t bother us,” Moyer said.
Fort Bragg took the opening kickoff and drove down to the Upper Lake 12-yard line before a mishandled pitch resulted in a 10-yard loss that eventually led to a 39-yard field goal by Garrick Tallman, who also went 9-for-9 on his extra-point kicks. Tallman”s low liner would have been good from 50 yards as the Timberwolves jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Upper Lake punted after each of its first two possessions and Fort Bragg answered with one- and two-play touchdown drives to go up 17-0. Caleb Cunha scored on a 51-yard run with 7:18 left in the first quarter and Cody Ryden caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Brent Moyer with 2:45 left in the opening period, capping a two-play mini-series.
The Timberwolves scored again in the final minute of the first quarter when Alfredo Huerta partially blocked an Upper Lake punt and teammate Jake Cimolino scooped up the ball and returned it seven yards for a touchdown to make it 24-0.
It only got worse from there.
A shanked Upper Lake punt early in the second quarter set up a Cimolino 1-yard touchdown run. The Timberwolves got the ball back minutes later when Brandon Freitas picked off a James O”Conner pass and returned it to the Upper Lake 41. Seven plays later it was 38-0 as Cunha scored from two yards out.
Fort Bragg added two more touchdowns before the half ended with the Timberwolves leading 52-0. Moyer and Ryden linked up for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 3:42 to go in the second quarter and Cody Lowe returned a punt 50 yards for a score with 1:56 remaining. Yet another touchdown was wiped out by a penalty ? Cunha returned an interception 50 yards ? as time expired in the half.
Upper Lake moved the ball no farther than its own 38 in the first half while picking up a total of three first downs.
Cimolino 32- and 45-yard touchdown runs in the third quarter rounded out the scoring.
With the running clock factored in, Upper Lake ran only 10 plays in the second half, had no first downs and never advanced past its own 40.
“I tip my hat to Fort Bragg, those kid kept coming, coming and coming,” Guerrero said. “They”re the most physical team we”ve played so far.”
Cimolino finished with 122 yards on only eight carries and Cunha had 81 yards on three carries.
Upper Lake gained a grand total of 64 yards while committing its 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th turnovers of the season.
The Cougars are home this Saturday to play Lower Lake (0-3).
